Birth of the Virus
by Pseudonymity
Summary: The year is 1978, and when two young boys somehow tap into the digital world through a video game, they can barely imagine the adventure that is about to unfold before them. Canon to the Adventure/02 universe, this story acts as a prequel.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

A clap of thunder struck violently across the sky, so loud it sounded as if the very heavens were tearing in two. Immense dark clouds were rolling slowly along, dragging the storm with them, as a tremendous downpour soaked the trees below.

On the ground, running through the tangles of the jungle's vines and creepers, a small creature fled. It was a strange thing, small and round and covered entirely in a green, mossy fur, all except for the top of its head from which protruded a small stalk and leaves that looked as close to hair as this thing could have.

Half turning its body, the little green creature peered back through the rain, its small, jet-black eyes wide in fear. Sticking out from its round little body, tiny feet hammered the ground repeatedly as it ran.

A few feet ahead a tree root stuck up from the ground, but the terrified creature did not see it, as it still stared backwards looking for whatever it was from which it was running. One of its tiny feet caught the root and it tumbled to the ground.

"Oof!" It exclaimed in a quiet, fairly high-pitched voice. Followed by "Oh no!"

Behind it, sounds of smashing could be heard as something much larger was bounding through the trees.

"Can't... keep going... so tired..." The creature cried, its black eyes scrunched up as it lay face down in the mud. "This is it."

"Raaaar!" The cry came from behind, the larger creature closing in fast, and it certainly didn't sound friendly.

"If there's anyone out there, please, help me, please!" The smaller creature whispered in desperation. "I don't wanna be food! I need a miracle!"

The small creature looked up, and as if in answer to its prayers, the dark mouth of a cave loomed up ahead. It looked scary, but no scarier than the creature closing in from behind.

Picking itself up, wet mud dripping from its fur, the green ball-shaped thing forced itself to run a little further, dashing for the cave and hiding behind a rock in the entrance, peeking over the top at the way from which it had come.

Out of the trees bounded a much larger creature, also green but otherwise very different. It was humanoid, standing on two legs and holding a large wooden club with screws sticking from it at odd angles. It had spiky, bright red hair wore brown shorts for clothing, ripped just above the knees.

"Where are you, you little brat?" It called out angrily, scanning the area in front of it.

"Ah!" The smaller green creature cried, making panicked noises as it cowered behind its rock that offered little protection.

Slowly but surely, the larger creature approached the cliff face that the cave lay within, and walked along it. It drew closer and closer to the cave, and the smaller green creature shrank back as it knew it was about to be found, and sure enough the larger creature soon stood directly ahead.

"Huh." The larger creature said, confused. "Where the heck could he go? I was right behind him." It peered around in front of itself, once or twice even glancing directly at the small, terrified, ball of green that was frozen in terror in the cave mouth.

"Bah!" The large creature exclaimed. "He must've gone another way. I'm gonna get'cha!" He called, and ran off, back into the jungle.

The small green creature let out a heavy breath, having stopped breathing in its panic, confused but relieved as its escape.

"I dunno how I got away, he sure is dumb to not see me stood right here." The little creature said, bemused. It turned to examine its new surroundings, but little could be seen as the cave extended quickly into blackness.

"Huh…? What's that?" The creature now questioned, as it noticed a low glow emitting from the very back of the cave. "I hope it doesn't want to eat me too."

Cautiously, the small green ball-shaped thing approached the back of the cave, until it located the source of the light. Its eyes widened a little.

"H-hello…?"

**End of Prologue**


	2. Chapter 01, Miracle

Okay, so first things first: I've never written fanfic before, least of all based off of japanese anime. In fact, Digimon is probably the only Japanese anime I ever really got into big time. So with that in mind, I apologize in advance if my original characters (of which there are only 3 major ones, not including digimon) have names that don't really sound very Japanese etc.

Also, this chapter's introducing the two most major characters so it isn't very dramatic or fast paced, but that'll pick up later.

P.S. If anyone notices mistakes, especially if I'm making a common mistake often with grammar or spelling, please point it out so I can fix it. ;) Also, just cause I see it on everything else  
Disclaimer: I don't own the Digimon franchise or any character not explicitely stated as an original creation used in this story.

* * *

**Chapter 01- Miracle**

"_Hi."_

"_Huh? Oh, uh. Hi."_

"_What's your name? I'm Hiroki."_

"…_Yukio"_

"_Cool. Wanna hang out?"_

"_Erm, sure, I guess."_

Yukio remembered the conversation word for word; it was the best day of his life. No one at school had ever talked to him before, they all just thought he was weird and so he'd been pushed out, and become a loner.

Such was the fickle fate of school life; the bully that everyone fears always has the most friends, that is until one of the kids gets a new toy and steals the limelight, or one of them has an accident and gains and scar and is hailed like some sort of superhero.

'_Parasites'_ Yukio used to think. _'They all just cling to whichever one is getting the most attention.'_

'_What's wrong with me? Am I so much of a freak that none of them want to even say hi?' _He had scolded himself for the thoughts, but they remained in the back of his mind all the same.

And such was his life, an ever growing pit of depression that threatened to swallow him at any moment, not that he would have minded, as being taken from that miserable world would have been more a blessing than a curse.

And then he came… marching across the playground with that big goofy grin across his face. He had sat down next to Yukio on the patch of grass by the tree that Yukio had made his home that first day, a place he could sit out of sight and dwell in his loneliness.

'_How come you always sit here?' _Hiroki had asked, nonchalant as if he always walked up and said that to the kids who sat alone.

'_I like it here. This tree is perfect. Its shade keeps me cool in the sun, and its leaves keep me dry in the rain.' _Yukio lied, practicably, though the nerves kept him talking too long to be believable.

'_No friends then?' _Hiroki asked, with a small giggle.

Yukio's face darkened._ 'If you're here to poke fun at me you can just buzz off.'_ Yukio snapped, clearly irritated.

'_Whoa, relax will ya? I was just kidding around. How come no one talks to you?' _Hiroki quizzed Yukio, making it all seem so trivial.

'_I don't know. I guess they all think I'm weird, even though they're the ones running around like crazies all the time.' _He replied, jealousy evident in his voice despite mocking the other kids' games.

'_Yukie!' _Hiroki exclaimed all of a sudden. Yukio blinked and peered at Hiroki, confused.

"Yukie!" The call came again, Yukio blinked again and sat up, realising he had been day dreaming again. "Come on down, you're going to be late!" It was his mother.

"Wah!" Yukio suddenly called out, realising he was due to be at Hiroki's house any minute. He grabbed his coat and pulled it on, bounding out of his room and down the stairs to where his mother waited by the door.

"There you are! What were you doing up there? Oh, you just look so cute! I can't believe you're going on your first play-date!" Yukio's mother said all in a hurry, barely giving Yukio a chance to reply to any of it.

"Mom, I told you not to call it a play-date!" Yukio complained, but his mother only smiled and ruffled his hair. They went outside and climbed into the car, driving to Hiroki's house a couple of blocks over, where Yukio's mother said goodbye to him like he was leaving for far more than a couple of hours.

"Hey! Yukio!" The familiar voice of Hiroki came, charging down the stairs and causing his Dad to yell at him, as Yukio came in through the front door. The two clasped hands.

"You got it?" Yukio quizzed, impatiently.

"I got it!" Hiroki exclaimed, holding up a square-shaped grey plastic object; it was a game cartridge, emblazoned with a logo that read _'Battle Monsters!' _on the front.

The two hurried off back upstairs to Hiroki's room, which was a mess of wires and cables that connected a television to a huge metal box, which had a slot on the top the same size as the game cartridge in Hiroki's hand.

Hiroki gleefully approached the box and slammed the cartridge into it, then grabbed two controllers that were also plugged into the front of the box, and pressed the power button.

The TV screen came to life and shone brightly into the dim room, which had little other light as the curtains were drawn; Hiroki's idea of making the game more dramatic in the dull lighting.

The two kids picked from a short list of a dozen or so pixelated monsters, which were then placed onto a screen filled with maze made of lines. They navigated through the maze, fighting the two creatures against each other, laughing and taunting one another when they won. After a while, Yukio spoke up, sounding a little nervous.

"Hey… Hiroki?" He asked.

"Huh?" Hiroki replied, half listening as he paid careful attention to the next monster he picked to do battle.

"I was just wondering... how come you… y'know, talk to me and stuff?" Yukio asked, timidly.

A menu flashed up on screen as Hiroki hit 'pause' and turned to face Yukio.

"What do you mean?"

"Well… it's just, everyone had ignored me until you, and then you just came and spoke to me out of nowhere. Why?"

"Why not?"

"I dunno, I just wondered. Everyone else just thought I was weird."

Hiroki smiled and scrunched his eyes at Yukio, then giggled.

"Well yeah, when you ask stuff like that!" He teased.

"You know what I mean…" Yukio replied, heat rising to his face in embarrassment.

"Hey, don't worry about it. We're friends now, and that's how its gonna stay, forever. Got it?" Hiroki said happily.

"Got it." Yukio replied confidently, smiling now too.

"Good." Hiroki said, and turned back to face the screen. He gasped suddenly.

"Huh?"

"What?" Yukio asked.

"That's weird, what's it doing?" Hiroki wondered, as the screen was covered in static and flashing odd colours. It did this for a few minutes, and then appeared to go completely black.

"Wah!" cried Hiroki, grabbing the TV remote control and pressing all the buttons. Nothing happened and so instead he grabbed the game remote, mashing all of those buttons too, as well as the 'reset' and 'power' buttons on the console, but nothing worked.

"Aw man, it must've jammed. Hold on, I'll go ask my dad. Wait here." He said, and hurried out of the room.

Yukio lay back on the floor, staring at the ceiling of his friends' bedroom. He thought how nice it felt to have someone to talk to, and play with, and not to have sit alone under a tree anymore.

Yukio's eyes wandered about the room, there wasn't much in the way of toys, as Hiroki's father was very stern and believed that Hiroki's free time should be spent practicing the martial arts, not playing games. Still, Hiroki's mother had spoken to his father and calmed him, allowing him to at least have a little time to play with his friends.

Hiroki had just recently turned nine, too, and his mother had spoiled him rotten with the games console, much to his father's displeasure.

'_I'm not happy about this, Miko! You know how important it is to keep him clear of distractions. He must be able to focus on his martial arts!"_

'_Oh, come now Chikara, you work that boy too hard. Between his studies and his martial arts he has no time to himself. Let him have this one toy at least."_

Suddenly a voice broke the silence of the room, and snapped Yukio out of his day dreaming.

"H-hello?"

* * *

Yukio sat up, staring at the TV screen with wide eyes at the strange green thing that had just appeared in the corner, peeking over the edge.

"Did the TV just speak to me?" Yukio said aloud, to himself.

"Whoa, the glowy light thing talks!" The creature exclaimed, seeming to relax. "Hi!"

"Okay, I'm definitely not imagining this; the TV really is talking to me. What the heck kinda game is this?" Yukio said, somewhat panicked.

"Huh? My name's not teevee, silly, it's Datirimon!" The creature cried, smiling happily with itself.

"Da…tiri…mon?" Said Yukio hesitantly, clearly dumbstruck at the turn of events.

"Yep-yep, I'm a Digimon! Are you a Digimon?" Datirimon asked expectantly.

"What's… a Digimon?" Yukio asked, peering at the strange creature and starting to wonder again if he was daydreaming.

Datirimon merely stared at Yukio for a minute, and then toppled over backwards with a crash, springing back to his feet within seconds.

"You don't know what a **Digimon** is? Where the heck are you from, **Crazyland**?" Datirimon cried indignantly, moving finally out from his corner of the screen and standing roughly in the centre.

"Whoa." Yukio breathed, surprised by the outburst. "I'm sorry little guy, I've just never heard of a Digimon before. I'm a human being." Yukio replied with a smile, but Datirimon only gawked.

"What's… a human being?" Datirimon asked in all seriousness, and in response this time Yukio crashed backwards and lay on the floor.

"Waah! I'm sorry I'm sorry of course I've heard of you!" Datirimon squealed in panic, but Yukio had already sat up and was laughing.

"I'm sorry again, little guy, I was only teasing." He said, rubbing his eyes. _'This isn't like me' _Yukio thought to himself. _'Why am I so relaxed around this strange creature? I don't even know what it is.'_

At that moment Hiroki burst back into the room, his frustration at the game crashing a few minutes ago had vanished, and he was now back to his usual self. He marched over to the wall where the game console was plugged in.

"My dad says he knows how to fix it! He says if we turn it off and on at the power cable it should work!" He announced and reached for the plug.

"Hiroki! No!" Yukio yelled, surprising himself as much Hiroki at the outburst.

"But… wha?" said Hiroki, confused and slightly dazed at the yell.

"Is everything okay up there?" Came a voice, it was Hiroki's mother.

"We're fine mom!" He called back, and then turned to Yukio. "Seriously, why'd you yell?"

"Look…" Yukio stated simply, pointing at the TV, and Hiroki looked.

Datirimon had shrunk back into a corner of the screen, and was peeking at Hiroki with some concern. Hiroki slowly approached the screen in silence until his nose was almost pressed against it, peering intently at the creature. Datirimon looked terrified.

"…Hi?" Datirimon said.

"WAAAAH!" screamed Hiroki, and he fell backwards with a loud crash on the floor.

There were footsteps on the stairs.

"What **is** going on in here?" came a voice from behind. It was Hiroki's dad!

"Ah! Dad, uh, hi, nothing, we're fine, honest!" Hiroki stammered, his terror a moment ago forgotten and he had now jumped up, blocking the TV screen with his body, laughing as sweat formed on his forehead.

"Did you get your little game working again?" Chikara asked questioningly, staring right through his son with a raised eyebrow.

"Yep dad thanks a lot." Hiroki said, grinning. His father showed no sign of smiling.

"Good. Keep the noise down or your friend will have to go home." He said, and shut the door hard behind him. Yukio gulped and his face reddened a little.

"Don't worry about that, he's always that way, he just believes in strong discipline." Hiroki said, and turned back to the screen. "So what the heck is this thing?"

"I'm Datirimon!" The green ball announced.

"He's a Digimon," finished Yukio.

"Digi-wha?"

"Digimon! Digital Monster!" Datirimon laughed happily but then suddenly looked sad and frightened.

"Hey, what's wrong little guy?" asked Yukio, concern suddenly in his voice.

"My friend… that big bully might've gotten him, I have to go and find him!" said Datirimon about to run off, but then stopped. "But… the bully is still out there."

"Hey, slow down, what friend? What bully? What the heck even **are** you?" exclaimed Hiroki, clearly still confused, but much to his surprised he was shushed by Yukio.

"Little guy, we'll help you find your friend!"

"You will?"

"We will?"

Datirimon and Hiroki said this at exactly the same moment, causing used Yukio to laugh.

"Yep, we will! Where did you last see your friend?" Yukio asked.

"A little ways back through the jungle… but…" Datirimon's voice trailed off.

"But what?" Yukio questioned, urging the little Digimon on whilst ignoring the look on Hiroki's face at the word 'jungle.'

"Well… I'm kinda talking to a wall right now, how can you help me if you can't come with me?" Datirimon asked, puzzled.

"Oh… I don't know." Yukio's reply came, and he looked a little crestfallen. Then, suddenly, at that very moment the screen glowed brightly and Datirimon called out in surprised, stumbling out of view.

"Datirimon!" Yukio called out, worried, but after a few moments the little Digimon re-emerged on screen.

"Whoa, you turned into a ball of light. Human beings sure are funny." Datirimon said, peering at what was now hovering in front of him. "Can you fly?"

"Can we fly? Can we **fly? **How can we- whaaaa?" Hiroki's incredulity was cut short as the view on the screen began to change, walls of a cave flying past and occasionally a flash of the green Digimon flew past as well.

Hiroki looked to his side at Yukio, who had picked up his game controller and was now indeed flying the view on the screen around with the controls.

"Ha-ha! We can fly!" exclaimed Yukio.

"You can fly!" chimed in Datirimon.

"We can fly…" added Hiroki, dumbstruck.

"Okay Datirimon, lets go find that friend of yours!" exclaimed Yukio, his mouth spread wide in a grin, and on the screen the little Digimon cheered and began to bound off, with Yukio flying the on-screen view close behind.

**End of Chapter 01**


	3. Chapter 02, Cubmon

Little bit more action this time, but not much. I know things are starting slow, but they'll pick up.

* * *

**Chapter 02 - Cubmon**

Datirimon ran hurriedly along, rushing out of the cave mouth and into the tree line, hastily followed by the little orb of light through which Hiroki and Yukio watched. As they ran, Hiroki spoke up.

"Hey, uh, Datirimon?" He asked.

"Yeah?" The reply came, though Datirimon didn't slow down much.

"I don't mean to keep going on about this… but what exactly _are _Digimon?" Hiroki asked. "I mean, are they all like you?"

"Well… kinda. Some of them are way bigger, like that nasty bully who was chasing me, but some of them are so nice and brave! Like my friend!" Datirimon replied, happily.

"Hmm, well, I guess I'll learn more about them if we keep playing… but still, it seems strange." Hiroki said, pondering.

"What's so strange about it Hiroki? This little guy needed help and we came to help him." Yukio said confidently.

"Yeah but… how? I mean, this looks nothing like the game from before and my TV went haywire before this came up, it just doesn't feel right to me." Hiroki said, doubt in his eyes as well as his voice.

"Oh come on, Hiroki, now we've got a new friend to play with, what's wrong with that?" Yukio smiled at Hiroki who only shrugged.

"I guess…"

"So, Datirimon! Where do you live?" Yukio asked in an interested manner.

"The Digiworld, silly!" Datirimon replied matter-of-factly, still running as he ducked the branches of bushes and hopped the roots of trees. Yukio swerved the orb around these obstacles as well, and Hiroki wondered why he was so good at it already.

"The Digi…world?" Yukio said, confused.

"Yep-yep, all Digimon live in the Digiworld." Datirimon stated, still acting as if Yukio and Hiroki were stupid for not understanding.

"I suppose you live in the Digiverse too, huh?" Hiroki retorted sarcastically, peering at Datirimon from the corner of his eyes.

"No. Where's that?" Datirimon replied in total seriousness, clearly not understanding the sarcasm, and sweat appeared on Hiroki's forehead.

"Hey guys, wait!" Yukio cried suddenly, and stopped moving the orb.

"What is it?" Hiroki asked, and Datirimon stopped running too, turning to face them.

"Come on guys, we gotta keep going!" He said indignantly, but Yukio wasn't listening.

"Over there, I swear I saw something move behind that tree." Yukio said, rotating the orb to point at the tree.

"It must be him!" Datirimon yelled, and ran off immediately to where Yukio had indicated.

"Wait up!" Yukio exclaimed and quickly followed Datirimon. They rounded the tree in a matter of seconds, but the hope faded from Datirimon's eyes as they saw nothing was there.

"Aw, he's not here." Datirimon moaned, and looked at the floor.

"Huh… hey I'm sorry little guy, I must've been seeing things." Hiroki said, trying to comfort the little green ball. _'I know I saw _something!_'_ He thought.

"Oh well, we'd better keep going." Hiroki said, and Datirimon and Yukio both nodded, and turned to carry on the way they had come.

"Not so fast!" Something yelled suddenly, and a creature dropped out of the tree and landed right in front of them.

"Wah!" Datirimon yelled in shock, and Hiroki and Yukio's eyes both widened in surprise as well.

Before them stood a strange yellow beetle-shaped creature. It had two large pincers protruding from its mouth, and two small ball-shaped eyes just above them.

"The name's Subeetamon and I ain't gonna let you leave!" He said almost in triumph, staring them down.

"Oh! But we gotta!" Datirimon yelled. "I need to find my friend!"

"Tough luck, I'll get a big reward for finding you!" Subeetamon responded with a smirk. "Scissor Strike!"

The beetle-like creature leapt forward surprisingly fast, opening wide its pincers and flying towards Datirimon. Subeetamon landed and his pincers snapped shut with incredible force.

"Hahaha… wha?" He chuckled but then gaped in shock, as he turned to his side and saw Datirimon stood a few feet from where he had been, safe, with the orb of light beside him.

Yukio had manoeuvred the orb with amazing reflexes, bashing into the side of Datirimon and knocking him away from Subeetamon's attack.

"Leave my friend alone!" Yukio yelled from the orb, angrily, and Subeetamon frowned in return.

"You pest! After I am done with your friend I'm coming for you!" He yelled back, and poised ready to strike again.

"Datirimon…" Yukio said quietly. "You gotta run! Hiroki and I will distract him so you can get away."

"We will?" Hiroki asked, dumbstruck.

"Yes." Yukio replied sounding so determined that Hiroki dared not question him again.

Datirimon looked surprised and was about to protest as well, but then he frowned and nodded. "Right."

Without another word Yukio charged the orb forwards, right at Subeetamon, whose eyes widened in shock. Yukio turned the orb at the last second and avoided him, starting to fly in circles around him.

"Rargh! Enough of this! I'm going to end you now!" Subeetamon cried, furious, and began spinning around trying to catch the orb. Datirimon saw his chance and fled into the jungle as fast as he could.

"I hope… they make it… away from him!" Datirimon cried out to himself between breaths, and rounded another tree. Suddenly he felt something grasp his arm, and he was pulled off his feet. "Wah!"

Subeetamon heard the cry, and noticed as he spun that Datirimon had gone. Angered once more, Subeetamon scowled and suddenly stopped spinning, then turned sharply in the opposite direction. Catching Yukio off guard, Subeetamon's pincer collided with the orb.

Yukio cried out in pain and Hiroki noticed a spark spit out from the game's console, and Yukio's hands gripped harder on the controller unwillingly. He had been shocked.

"Uh… Yukio, it looks like we can get hurt, we need to get out of here!" Hiroki cried, but Yukio frowned.

"No. He'll go after Datirimon." He replied.

"He's going after us!" Hiroki protested and grabbed the controller from Yukio's hands. "Gimme that!"

Hiroki spun the orb around and sped off in the opposite direction, hearing Subeetamon taunt them as they fled.

"Hah! Running away are we? You can't escape me in my own forest!" He yelled and began to chase them.

Hiroki sped in and out of trees, weaving around in all different directions trying to lose Subeetamon, but every time he looked back he could still see him, running just a few feet behind.

Eventually Hiroki had an idea, and sped around a tree in a loop and back the way he came, while Subeetamon ran off in the opposite direction, not noticing what Hiroki had done.

Still panicked, Hiroki continued and fled further until he finally stopped amongst some trees. He breathed heavily, and his hands were shaking a little from the tension.

"Think… we lost him." Hiroki claimed, trying to calm down. He looked at Yukio and was shocked to see a sign of tears in his eyes.

"I'm sorry… Hiroki… I could've gotten us hurt… and now I've lost Datirimon too." He wailed, but Hiroki put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, don't be sad, what you did back there was very brave, braver than me." Hiroki smiled, and Yukio relaxed.

"I guess you're right… and we'll find Datirimon again, I'm sure of it." He said with renewed confidence.

But at that moment their peace was shattered again as they heard the familiar yell of Subeetamon behind them, and he was closing in on their position fast.

"Oh man, this guy just doesn't give up!" Hiroki said, about to speed off again.

"Hey, guys, over here!" A familiar voice came, and Hiroki and Yukio saw Datirimon's head sticking out of a tree.

"Wha… Datirimon? How…?" Hiroki began, but Datirimon interrupted.

"No time to explain, get inside!" He exclaimed and Hiroki nodded, and flew at the tree trunk, which he passed through as if it wasn't even there and stopped inside of it.

"Whoa." Hiroki and Yukio said together, but there intrigue was interrupted.

"I know you're he- huh, where did they go?" Subeetamon's voice came, sounding like he was right beside them, but they could not see him through the fake trunk of the tree.

"What? How could I lose them? Oh man, Goblimon isn't going to be happy with me!" Subeetamon scolded himself, and they heard the sound of him storming off back into the jungle.

"Phew, that was a close one." Hiroki sighed in relief. "How did you find this place Datirimon?"

"I didn't…" He replied, and the orb turned to face him.

Yukio and Hiroki gasped in shock, as there, stood beside Datirimon, was another creature whom they had not even noticed until now, due to their fear.

* * *

About twice the size of Datirimon, this new creature looked like a small lion, with yellowy-golden fur covering his entire body, and whiskers sticking out of his cheeks.

His ear twitched as he peered almost sternly at the orb that Hiroki and Yukio looked through, but then his face softened.

"Cubmon yay! I found you!" Datirimon cried and ran up to his friend, leaning his head which was also his body against him, a thing as close to a hug as his armless creature was able to give.

"Greetings," the new creature said with his eyes still fixed on the orb. "I am indeed Cubmon, and I found this strange tree last night as I fled Goblimon." He explained.

The two boys still looked surprise, but Hiroki seemed different, his eyes were wide and he seemed to be fighting mixed emotions of shock and gladness.

"Hi… Cubmon," Hiroki said, and then he broke into a wide grin, scrunching his eyes.

Yukio looked at Hiroki, reminded a moment of that first day, and then turned back to the screen and smiled at Cubmon as well.

"So you're Datirimon's friend." He added.

"Indeed, I try to keep this little thing safe, he can ill protect himself." Cubmon said.

"Hey! I can too protect myself!" Datirimon cried and breathed in, puffing himself up.

Yukio laughed at the sight. "Don't worry Datirimon, not everyone is meant to be a fighter." He said.

Datirimon let out a gasp of breath as he couldn't hold it anymore, and looked a little sad. "Aw."

"Come now, I think Subeetamon has left, but if we wait too long he may come back." Cubmon said logically.

"I agree." Hiroki stated and, still holding the controller, proceeded to exit the fake tree along with Cubmon. Datirimon followed.

"…What the?" Hiroki exclaimed, because as they exited the tree they were almost blinded by the bright light of day. "Wasn't it night time a second ago?"

"No," Cubmon said. "The storm overhead was blocking almost all light from the Sun, but it must have passed while we were in there."

"Huh…" Hiroki said, but shrugged it off.

"So, what now?" Yukio asked

"We ought to get out of this jungle if we can, Subeetamon and other Digimon working for Goblimon might still be around here." Cubmon said and together the two Digimon and the orb began to walk away.

"Who's Goblimon? And why are Digimon working for him?" Hiroki asked, curiously.

"Goblimon is the Digimon we ran from. He attacked Datirimon and I unprovoked before, and then chased us. I tried to hold him off as Datirimon escaped, but he was stronger than anything I have ever seen, and I was forced to flee as well." Cubmon said, bitterness and anger evident in his voice as he described the events.

"Apparently, there is a reward for anyone whom brings him Digimon, but I don't understand." He went on, now looking both angered and upset.

"What don't you understand?" Hiroki asked, concerned.

"It is clear to me that Goblimon wants these Digimon so he can hurt them, I do not know why, but that much at least is clear," Cubmon explained. "But what I do not understand is why other Digimon are attacking their friends for some imagined reward. Our own kind are turning against us." Cubmon finished, sighing.

"This used to be such a peaceful place, before the storm."

"Don't worry Cubmon; we will help you find a way to stop him." Yukio said with confidence.

"Right!" Hiroki added in exclamation. "If we stick together, they don't stand a chance!"

Yukio looked at Hiroki, surprised, as until now he had been unsure about everything, but now he spoke with confidence as well.

"Yeah!" Yukio said happily, and the two boys clasped hands.

"Scissor Strike!" A yell suddenly boomed behind them, and a figure shot out from the trees above them.

"Datirimon, look out!" Cubmon yelled and dived in front of his friend.

Subeetamon's attack struck the side of Cubmon, who yelled out in pain and fell to the ground. Datirimon cried out as well, in shock, and ran behind a large nearby tree root.

"Aah! Cubmon!" Hiroki yelled and moved the orb to the side of the fallen Digimon.

Subeetamon laughed nastily. "It looks like your friend has met his fate, and now you will too!" He yelled, and advanced towards Datirimon.

"Datirimon!" Yukio yelled, and looked at Hiroki in desperation to do something, but Hiroki was staring at the fallen Cubmon, his eyes welling up with tears.

"Cubmon… I'm so sorry, I should've saved you." He said, eyes wide in emotion. Suddenly the orb of light briefly glowed brighter, and a small jet of the light flew out and touched Cubmon's wound, where it instantly sealed the small cut.

Over by the tree, Subeetamon advanced further on the terrified Datirimon.

"Ready to meet your maker?" Subeetamon taunted with an evil grin, and Datirimon cowered away.

"Cub Flame!" A yell came, and a fireball smashed into the back of Subeetamon who cried out in pain and turned around.

Stood proudly, Cubmon had gotten back to his feet and now glared at Subeetamon angrily.

"What?" Subeetamon said in disbelief, glaring back at Cubmon, but the intensity of Cubmon's stare got to Subeetamon, and his face turned to panic.

"Ah, forget this!" He cursed, and fled into the forest.

Datirimon came out from behind his root, relieved, and Yukio and Hiroki breathed a sigh of relief as well.

"Wow, Cubmon that was amazing!" Hiroki said proudly.

"Yeah, you were so brave!" Yukio added.

"It was nothing; it is my duty to help those in need." Cubmon replied matter-of-factly.

"Thank you anyway, friend!" Datirimon cried, and ran up to Cubmon and leaned against him again.

"See? I knew we could take on these guys together!" Hiroki exclaimed happily. Cubmon looked thoughtful.

"Cubmon?" Hiroki said, unsure.

"I wonder… where did you come from exactly?" Cubmon asked, peering into the orb of light, within which he could just make out the faces of Hiroki and Yukio.

"Uh… well, we're not really sure. My TV went haywire and then we could see the inside of a cave." Hiroki explained, and Yukio and Datirimon nodded in confirmation of this story. "Why?" Hiroki added.

"Earlier, as I fled from Goblimon, I saw four strange lights in the sky. I would not have noticed them had it not been for their stark contrast with the storm. They scattered towards different parts of the island, and I wonder…" Cubmon trailed off.

"Wonder what?" Hiroki asked.

"If those lights were you arriving here - it is the only thing that makes sense. You are clearly not Digimon." Cubmon finished his thought.

"Huh… well I guess that makes sense." Hiroki added.

"Wait, you said you saw four of them?" Yukio butted into the conversation.

"Yes. Why?" Cubmon added.

"Well, if that light was us, then doesn't that mean there are three more kids here as well?" Yukio said excitedly.

"Hmm, I had not considered that." Cubmon admitted.

"I bet it does!" Hiroki cried out gleefully. "I wonder where they are."

"I may be able to guide you in their direction; I saw roughly where they went." Cubmon told them, thoughtful still.

"Then it's settled!" Hiroki declared. "We have our mission; we must find the other kids!"

Yukio nodded.

"Hiroki! Yukio's mother is here!" Hiroki's mother called from downstairs.

"What? Aw man, you have to go?" Hiroki cried, and Yukio nodded sadly. Both of them had forgotten that Hiroki was only staying for a couple of hours.

"You're leaving?" Datirimon asked sadly.

"Yeah…. I gotta," Yukio said, disappointed. "But I'll be back!" He added determinedly.

"Come over tomorrow." Hiroki told him, assuredly.

"Hmm… if that's okay with you, then okay." Yukio agreed, and the two children smiled at one another again.

"Very well…" Cubmon said, and then yawned. This caused Datirimon to yawn as well, and the two Digimon suddenly realised how tired they were.

"Datirimon and I need to rest anyway, so we will meet you tomorrow." Cubmon told them.

"Okay…. But wait, how will we find you?" Hiroki asked, doubtfully.

"Well, if you enter this world anything like earlier today, _we_ will find _you_." Cubmon answered, and the two boys seemed to think it was a good idea.

"And if you don't, we'll go back to the cave where I found you, in case you appear there!" Datirimon added happily, speaking for the first time in a while.

"Well all right then. Tomorrow we will begin our search for the other kids!" Hiroki declared again, and the Digimon and Children said their goodbyes.

Hiroki got up and turned the game's console off at the wall, and the TV turned instantly back. In the Digiworld, the orb of light slowly faded from view and Cubmon and Datirimon set off for the cave where Datirimon had first met the children.

Back in the real world, Hiroki and Yukio said goodbye for the day as well.

"I wonder why this happened…" Yukio mused, staring at the now dark TV screen.

Hiroki was about to answer, but at that moment his mother yelled again, sounding irritated that they were taking so long, and so the two boys headed downstairs so that Yukio could go home.

**End of Chapter 02**


	4. Chapter 03, A New Friend

So here's chapter 3, there's a blatent reference to the first series of Adventure in here, which I'm sure anyone can easily spot.

I've also started to notice an almost childish element to some of the wording in these chapters, which isn't entirely intentional, but it seems wrong to write it another way. I think it sort of helps portray the infantile nature of both the children and their digimon, as well as the digiworld itself. Things will get darker and more mature in future, but this story needs that childish innocence to it despite the various evils that'll crop up.

While I'm on the subject; if you notice I also describe well known things about the Digimon universe (such as how a Digimon dies) in a descriptive and round-about way (rather than just "[...] died and exploded into data particles,") it is intentional and is meant to show the children's lack of understanding about how the Digital world works.

Anyway, here it is, enjoy 'n' stuff:

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**Chapter 03 – A New Friend**

The cave in which Cubmon and Datirimon had slept was now brightly lit again by the light of day. At the mouth of the cave Cubmon sat, where he had been since the light had first broken through the through night sky.

Behind him, Datirimon still slept peacefully, and Cubmon could not help but smile at the sight of the little Digimon.

'_I can't shake this strange feeling…' _Cubmon thought to himself, turning to face out of the cave again, watching carefully for any sign that Hiroki and Yukio had returned to their world.

'_Hiroki,' _Cubmon thought. _'Why is your name so familiar to me? I only even know what it is because Datirimon heard the other calling you by it.'_

'_And the other hasn't even told us his name yet, either, yet we trust them both implicitly' _He considered, chucking slightly at the children's forgetting to even properly introduce themselves in their excitement.

'_I don't think Datirimon actually realises that he doesn't even know his partner's name.'_ Cubmon blinked at his own words. _'Wait, what did I just say?'_

Cubmon frowned, confused at why he had referred to the children in this way, and yet it somehow felt right. _'Were we meant to find one another?'_

He stepped out of the cave and climbed on top of a boulder that stood nearby, just about gaining a view over the tops of the trees.

In the distance he could see the dark clouds of the storm, now on the other side of the island, the occasional flash of lightning indicating that it still raged.

'_I have never known anything like this,'_ He thought, as he stared at the darkness of the storm. _'It rages and rages, never ceasing... It is no ordinary storm.'_

Before he could ponder any further, a flash of light from the nearby sky heralded Hiroki and Yukio's arrival, and Cubmon's heart leapt a little at the thought. He moved to wake Datirimon.

"Datirimon, awake," He said, nudging the small Digimon with his paw.

"Mrh," Datirimon mumbled incoherently, and merely rolled over instead of getting up.

"Come now, little one, the children are here." Cubmon told him, smiling.

"Oh!" Datirimon suddenly cried and leapt up, wide awake, and ran out of the cave in a hurry.

"Datirimon, wait!" Cubmon called, and ran after the green ball that was heading for the jungle. "Do you even know what direction to go?"

Datirimon stopped in his tracks, turning around with sweat on his forehead. "Well… no," He answered and looked at his feet, but Cubmon only chuckled

"Come on, it is this way," He said, and the two set off into the jungle.

* * *

Hiroki and Yukio peered into the jungle that had appeared on their TV screen, after a moment of panic, when the digital world had not seemed to load, had passed. There was no sign of the two Digimon that they had met the day before.

"Aw, they're not here!" Hiroki exclaimed, saddened.

"Relax Hiroki; I am sure they are on their way." Yukio smiled, and took up the controller, looking around the area.

"Hey, don't move it! They won't find us!" Hiroki said worriedly, as the little orb of light zoomed around the nearby vegetation.

"I won't go far, stop worrying!" Yukio replied indignantly, and continued on. Suddenly, they heard voices.

"One! Two! One! Two! Mokimon Go!" A chant arose from a little further ahead.

"I wonder who that could be…" Yukio mused, and moved slowly towards the sound, poking the orb through a bush to see where the sound was coming from.

Directly ahead, in a small clearing, stood a group of Digimon lined up in a row. They were very small, not much taller than Datirimon, and looked like small monkeys.

In time with their chant they were punching their small fists in front of them, alternating left and right hands. Yukio grinned at the sight.

"Aw, how cute," Yukio muttered, and Hiroki was about to speak when something flew out of the sky and landed in front of the group of Digimon, who squealed in surprised.

"Oi, you lot!" The creature cried, glaring at the small Digimon with a sinister grin. "You see a small green Digimon around here? He was probably with a Cubmon." He demanded.

The new comer was fairly hideous looking, covered in black fur and with wings extending from either side; this Digimon looked not too dissimilar to a bat.

The little Mokimon looked terrified, and had stopped their apparent training. None of them spoke.

"Well?" The bat Digimon yelled, his glare intensifying. Finally one of the monkey-like creatures spoke up.

"We haven't seen anything! Leave us alone Fruimon!" The brave Mokimon yelled, shaking a fist at the creature.

Angered at this, the Fruimon retaliated to the insubordination. "Sonic Blast!" He yelled.

Though Hiroki and Yukio could not hear a thing, they saw the grass visibly moved by the force of the attack, as if the wind had suddenly blown, and the small Mokimon was knocked backwards.

As it hit the ground, the Digimon seemed to explode, and a dust-like substance flew away from where it landed. The other Mokimon screamed in terror and fled into the jungle.

"Yeah, you better run!" Fruimon taunted them, but then reconsidered his actions. "Aw nuts, now who am I gonna question?" He wondered.

"Ah well, no use standing around here!" He said to himself, and took flight, flying off over the trees.

Yukio and Hiroki blinked in shock, and sat in silence, unsure what to think. Eventually, Yukio spoke.

"W-what d-did he d-do to t-that Digimon?" He stammered, sounding upset.

"I dunno…" Hiroki said, seeming upset too, but before they could dwell on it, a yell came from behind them, although through the television's speakers they could not really tell exactly where it came from.

"Hiroki!" Cubmon yelled, running up to the orb. "Are you okay? We heard yelling."

"We're fine… there were these monkey things… Mokimon I think they said… and another Digimon appeared…" Hiroki said, struggling to organise his thoughts.

"Fruimon. He attacked them, and made one of them disappear." Yukio finished for Hiroki, still looking pretty shaken up.

Cubmon's expression changed, indicating he knew what they meant by 'disappear,' but was reluctant to explain it to them.

"He was looking for you guys," Hiroki added, and he and Yukio looked at the two Digimon with concern.

"Well in that case, we should not wait here long in case he returns," Cubmon said decisively. "Let's go, I think one of the other Orbs is not too far from this location.

"Oh yeah!" Hiroki exclaimed, remembering their quest to find the other children. He and Yukio seemed to forget about the Mokimon.

"Let's get going then." Datirimon spoke up, and the Digimon set off followed by the hovering orb.

After they had been walking through the jungle for some time, Cubmon spoke.

"Hiroki's friend…" He began, but paused.

"…Me?" Yukio asked, looking at Cubmon a little timidly, as they had not spoken to one another directly until now.

"I do not wish to sound rude but… well, what is your name?" Cubmon asked a little awkwardly.

"Uh…" Yukio said, his and Hiroki's eyes widening a little in surprise, heat rising to their cheeks.

"Oh man… I never told them my name." He said mostly to himself in embarrassment. "I'm Yukio" He added apologetically.

"Nice to meet you, Yukio." Cubmon said, with a smile, and noticed Datirimon had not really paid any attention to the conversation. _'I wonder if he feels as familiar with Yukio as I do with Hiroki.' _He thought.

After walking for a good while, the group decided to stop and rest.

"We are getting close to where I saw the light come down now, we should rest briefly." Cubmon had suggested, and Datirimon, Yukio, and Hiroki had happily obliged. Even though the two boys were not themselves tired, they were glad to let their Digimon rest.

They were chatting away happily, as the Digimon let the ache in their feet fade, when suddenly Cubmon leapt back up, facing away into the jungle and growling.

"What is it?" Hiroki asked, sounding concerned.

"Something…" Cubmon began, his eyes scanning the jungle before him. "There, in that bush!"

Datirimon got to his feet as well now, and Yukio rotated the orb to face where Cubmon was looking. Sure enough, a few feet away a bush was shaking as something inside it was moving.

"Uhh… what if it's Fruimon?" Yukio said, fear in his voice.

"Then we'll fight him, right Cubmon?" Hiroki said determinedly, but Cubmon was too focused on the shaking bush to reply.

They watched for what felt like an eternity as the tension in their bodies rose, until finally something emerged from the bush.

Before them stood a four-legged creature, fawn coloured fur covering its body, and a bushy tail swaying between its legs, each of which had hooves. It looked like a small horse.

Cubmon visibly relaxed, and Datirimon smiled widely. Yukio and Hiroki merely blinked at the new Digimon.

"Hi!" Datirimon said, taking a step forward, but the Digimon only turned its head, and peered at him.

"I'm Datirimon… what's your name?" Datirimon asked, taking another step. This time the horse-like Digimon suddenly turned and ran away.

"Aw… I must've scared him off." Datirimon said, looking dejected.

"Don't worry little guy, he's probably just shy." Yukio quickly comforted.

"I wonder what he was doing out here? You don't see many horses in jungles." Hiroki wondered, but no one had any answers.

At Cubmon's suggestion, they soon set off again as they were now closing in on the location that Cubmon believed the light off one of the other children had landed.

They reached another small clearing and decided to stop again.

"So… Cubmon, now that we're around where you saw the light, how are we actually gonna find where the orb is?" Hiroki asked, thinking.

"Hmm? You mean you don't have a way to locate them?" Cubmon asked expectantly.

Hiroki gaped and Yukio simply stared blankly at the lion-like Digimon, who still awaited a response patiently.

"Uh… No. I thought you'd have an idea." Hiroki finally said plainly.

"No. How would I be able to find them?" Cubmon asked honestly.

"Uh… well you lead us here." Hiroki said, scratching his head.

"Yes, I saw whereabouts the light shone down from the sky, but now we are here, they could be anywhere around the area." Cubmon explained simply.

"Aw man, how are we ever going to find them then?" Hiroki said desperately, but no one had any ideas.

The four of them waited in silence for inspiration, but nothing seemed to come, and the desperation grew.

Just then, a high pitched scream pierced the air, a pitch surely only reachable by a young girl, and they all turned in the direction of the sound.

"Whoa! That didn't sound like a Digimon." Hiroki cried, and Yukio quickly agreed. They all rushed off in the direction of the sound.

They sped through the trees and finally reached the edge of the jungle, and emerged from the tree line. Ahead of them the ground quickly turned from grass to sand, and they realised they had reached a desert.

Before they had time to gall over this drastic change in terrain, an orb that looked exactly like Hiroki and Yukio's came speeding along the edge of the tree line towards them, closely followed by a low flying Digimon.

"Aah! It's Fruimon!" Yukio cried, and sure enough the Digimon was none other than the bat-like creature they had encountered before.

"Cub Flame!" Cubmon yelled, and a fireball shot from his mouth and flew at the Fruimon, who merely angled to one side and avoided the fireball.

Cubmon fired another shot but missed again, and he growled in anger.

"We need to save her!" Hiroki cried out, desperate since his Digimon's attacks weren't working.

The orb blew past them, creating a gust of wind as it did, and the bat Digimon was closing in.

"Bubble Blow!" Datirimon suddenly cried to everyone's surprise, and he leapt into the air, blowing bubbles from his mouth at the speeding Fruimon.

One of the bubbles struck Fruimon in the face, and it burst and stuck to his eyes, and the bat screeched at the sudden inability to see. He crashed into the mid-air Datirimon and sent him flying and landing head first in the sand of the desert.

Fruimon veered off and crashed into the sand as well, coming to a stop as it sent chunks of sand flying into the air.

"Datirimon!" Yukio yelled in fear at his fallen friend, and flew the orb over to him.

A muffled yell came from the sand, and Datirimon's feet wriggled. Cubmon hurried over and quickly dug the Digimon out of the sand.

Datirimon stood up and shook his head to rid the sand from his fur, and looked quite shaken.

"Ugh! I'm never doing _that_ again!" He exclaimed, but Yukio smiled.

"I thought it was a very courageous thing to do," Yukio said happily. "You're pretty brave, for a little guy." He added.

"How cute," came a voice, and they looked up to see the Fruimon stood on the sand, having recovered from his own fall as well.

"I'll destroy you after I'm done with this one!" He yelled, and turned back to the orb from which they had heard the scream before. It had stopped moving and was cowering against the tree line. Fruimon advanced slowly, and then took flight straight at the orb, opening his mouth.

"Sonic Blast!"

"Hind Kick!" Something yelled all of a sudden, and a shape flashed from out of the tree line and struck Fruimon in the jaw, causing his head to rear up and his attack to veer off harmlessly. Fruimon tumbled to the ground once more, but got up quickly and glared at the newcomer.

Stood proudly and defiantly in front of the orb was the horse-like Digimon they had met just a little while before, his fur blowing slightly in the gentle breeze.

"I won't let you hurt her!" The Digimon said, threateningly.

"You and who's army?" Fruimon asked sarcastically.

"Cub Flame!" Cubmon yelled, and, this time unaware, the fireball caught Fruimon in the back and he screeched in pain.

"This one!" Hiroki exclaimed forcefully, and Fruimon turned, seeing that he was outnumbered.

"Grr… don't like to fight fair, huh?" Fruimon taunted.

"Did you fight fair against those Mokimon?" Yukio asked, speaking up suddenly and sounding angry.

"There were four of them and one of me. Is that not 'fair'?" Fruimon jeered.

"They didn't stand a chance and you knew it!" Yukio cried, his temper rising quickly.

Cubmon, Datirimon, and the horse-like Digimon all poised ready to attack again and Fruimon finally conceded to the unfavourable odds.

"Bah, pests! Just you wait, I'll be back to show you some respect!" The bat-like Digimon yelled, and he quickly flew away. The children's Digimon let him flee.

Finally, with the drama over, the second orb slowly approached from the tree line. Hiroki spoke up.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"I… I think so." The voice of a young girl spoke from the orb; she sounded no older than Hiroki or Yukio.

Hiroki smiled. "Hi, I'm Hiroki, what's your name?" He asked.

There was a short pause as the girl behind the orb seemed to consider the question, and then she answered.

"I'm Myoki, thank you dearly for saving me." She said, and smiled though mostly out of habit, as the others could not see clearly enough into her orb to tell.

"You're welcome, and nice to meet you then, Myoki, my friend here is Yukio and these are our Digimon, Cubmon, and Datirimon." Hiroki explained. Cubmon visibly tensed at the phrase 'our Digimon', but he did not protest the description.

"Honoured to meet you all… especially you," She said, and turned to horse-like creature, but before it could reply, Myoki squealed.

"Pony!" She cried, having only just gotten a good look at the Digimon, and she whizzed her orb closer for a better look. The Digimon looked nervous.

"Uhm… you may call me Bellamon." He said, watching the orb going around him in circles repeatedly.

"She's so pretty! I hope I can keep her!" Myoki said excitedly, ignoring Bellamon's words.

"…Uhm… I think it's a boy, I mean, listen to his voice." Hiroki said, sounding somewhat confused.

"Actually… we Digimon aren't divided into gender…" Bellamon explained, and Hiroki and Yukio gawked.

"See? She can be a she, and she's my little pony!" Myoki exclaimed again, and Bellamon looked more nervous than ever.

"You sure had good timing, Bellamon, how did you find us?" Yukio asked, moving his orb a little closer to the Digimon.

"I followed you from back where we met." Bellamon explained, much to the surprise of Yukio, Hiroki and Datirimon. Cubmon however confirmed it.

"Indeed, he was following us for quite some time." He said, and Hiroki gawked again.

"What? We were being followed and you didn't tell us? Why?" Hiroki cried in disbelief.

"Nobody asked." Cubmon stated simply.

"What if he attacked?" Hiroki went on.

"I sensed no threat from him." Cubmon said, still acting as if his reasoning was obvious. Hiroki fell quiet, looking at Cubmon dryly.

"Oh no." Myoki said suddenly, and the others looked at her worriedly.

"I gotta go, Mom's calling. Sorry!" Myoki said, but Hiroki interrupted quickly.

"Wait!" He said, "Will you be here tomorrow?"

"Uhm… sure, why?" Myoki asked.

"Well, there are others here besides us three, and we're trying to find them all. There is this really bad guy called Goblimon going around beating up other Digimon, and we want to stop him, together." Hiroki explained hurriedly.

"Well… if there are any more nasty things like that horrible bat… I might need a couple of brave boys to save me, as well as my beautiful pony. Hehe!" Myoki said, and giggled.

"Uh… yeah…" Hiroki said. "So you'll join us?"

"Yeah, sure." Myoki replied and Hiroki cheered happily, Yukio did too though somewhat less enthusiastically.

"Now I really gotta go!" Myoki said, and the orb slowly faded from view without another word.

"Wait! Make sure you wait for us here!" Hiroki yelled as the orb faded, but he did not know if she heard.

"Oh… she left." Bellamon said, looking dejected.

"Don't worry, Bellamon, she'll come back tomorrow and she'll reappear here." Datirimon announced happily, and bounced a little.

"Hey, Hiroki, that reminds me, I'm gonna have to go home soon too." Yukio said, and the two boys looked a little sad too.

"You can come back tomorrow, right?" Datirimon asked, hopeful, but the boys' expressions did not change and he looked worried.

"Well… its Sunday today, so we have school tomorrow… so probably not." Yukio explained, but then Hiroki looked determined.

"No! This is too important, we have to come tomorrow. You'll just have to come here after school. Dad'll be at work so he won't be here to yell at me, so long as you leave before he gets home." Hiroki said, and Yukio's eyes lit up again.

"Yeah! My mom'll be okay with that, she's obsessed with my having friends." Yukio said, and the two boys clasped hands, vowing to return the next day again, and turn turned their console off too with a quick 'goodbye!'

As Hiroki and Yukio's orb faded from the Digiworld, Cubmon and Datirimon looked a little saddened, which Bellamon noticed, but then Cubmon took charge.

"Okay, we need to rest and be strong for them tomorrow; I suspect we will run into many more of the likes of Fruimon." He said. "Let us find a place to rest, and return here tomorrow."

The other two Digimon agreed, and they set off to find a place to sleep.

**End of Chapter 03**


	5. Chapter 04, Unlikely Ally

Here's chapter four. Made some changes at the last minute to what was going to happen, because I realised it was starting to turn into a "random digimon attacking them for no apparent reason" story every time. So instead, there's a bit of insight as to where these Digimon are coming from this time.

Was getting a bit worried that the story might going to drag out and get boring, but I wanted to introduce each character in their own chapter so as not to rush. Similarly, I kinda have the story structured in my mind much like how early episodes of the anime worked, like how the first 7 or something episodes of Adventure take each kid's digimon and show them digivolve in turn. I hope it doesn't get too boring though.

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**Chapter 04 – Unlikely Ally**

Myoki skipped along happily on her way home from school, she could barely wait to put on her game's console and get back into the Digital World.

'_I'm coming, Bellamon,'_ She thought, wondering if the Digimon had missed her at all. She had sure missed him.

'_I only met her yesterday, but she already feels like such a good friend. She was so brave when she defended me.' _Myoki pondered as she rounded the corner and down the road to her house.

She lived in an apartment building as many people in the area did, though hers was the closest to the school, and so she was allowed to walk herself home on occasion, at least when both her parents were stuck at work.

Myoki entered one of the lifts that granted quick access to all the floors of the building, and reached on her tip-toes for the number 24. The button lit up, and the lift hummed into life and began to propel her towards home.

'_Ding!'_ Myoki thought to herself, in time with the lift as the doors opened, as she always did. She continued to skip along the corridor to her apartment and rung the bell.

After a few seconds the door opened and a teenage girl stood there, smiling at Myoki.

"Hi Myoki, good day at school?" The teenager asked, and Myoki nodded.

"Yep, we learned lots," Myoki said, and dumped her school bag on a chair, and headed for her bedroom.

"Hey, don't forget to do your homework young lady, just because I'm only the babysitter doesn't mean I can't tell you what to do y'know." The teenager said, folding her arms, but with no real threat in her voice.

Myoki only turned and smiled sweetly, as if to imply she would never even consider not doing her homework, and then bounded off into her room and closed the door.

The young girl quickly switched on her console and the TV lit up, loading the game cartridge that Myoki had put in for a few seconds first as always, before the TV's picture distorted briefly as it began to load the Digital World.

Bellamon reached the edge of the forest first, emerging from the tree line and standing on the edge of the grass just before the sand, waiting eagerly for Myoki to appear.

Just behind Bellamon, Cubmon and Datirimon emerged from the trees also, with Datirimon battling with a few roots and vines that threatened to tangle him within them.

"They might not get here yet, Bellamon, so be patient." Cubmon warned, but as if only to prove him wrong, the sky flashed at that moment and a beam of light struck the ground. Myoki's orb faded into view.

"Myoki!" Bellamon cried, and walked up to the orb.

"Hi Horsie!" Myoki said happily, and then greeted the other two Digimon as well.

"Once Hiroki and Yukio arrive we can set off and look for the next child." Cubmon said, looking up at the sky and awaiting their arrival.

There was another flash, but in the distance, and this time the beam of light shone down somewhere ahead of them in the desert. Mere minutes later a third, this time the light going somewhere in the jungle behind them.

"Oh, where are they?" Myoki said indignantly, "I want to set off on our adventure already."

"They will be here soon, I am sure." Cubmon said confidently, but as the minutes passed even he seemed to begin to doubt it.

Finally, after they had waited for more than ten minutes, the sky light up a final time and Hiroki and Yukio's orb made its entrance to the Digital World.

"Sorry we're late!" Hiroki exclaimed hurriedly, sounding out of breath as if they had run home.

"What took you so long?" Myoki demanded of the two boys, sounding rather annoyed.

"Well… uh, we sorta got told off for talking too much in class today and so the teacher made us stay behind at the end." Yukio explained timidly.

"What? You mean I've been waiting here for _ten minutes_ for you two because you couldn't stop _talking_?" Myoki said angrily, raising her voice at the two boys who shrank back within their orbs.

"I don't mean to interrupt… but the longer we wait, the further away the next child will get from where they landed." Cubmon suggested, and the children stopped squabbling.

"So, Cubmon, where do you think the nearest of the last two kids are?" Hiroki asked his Digimon, sounding confident in the lion-like creature's sense of direction.

"Well… the one that landed somewhere in the jungle is probably closer, but I think we should head towards the one who landed in the desert, because they might get lost out there." Cubmon reasoned, and they all agreed and headed off.

"So anyway, _Myoki,_" Hiroki began, emphasizing the girl's name to show his slight annoyance. "The only reason we were talking so much is we were trying to figure out a plan to find this next kid."

"And do you have one?" Myoki replied.

"Why yes, yes we do." Hiroki told her triumphantly.

"Tell us then."

"Okay, so we head as far as we can in the direction that Cubmon saw the light, then when we get near… we wait until we hear someone screaming and then save them from whatever Digimon is attacking them." Hiroki explained, sounding genuinely faithful in his plan.

Everyone stopped walking; sweat appearing on their foreheads as they stared at Hiroki and Yukio's orb.

"What?"

"You mean you're assuming; one, they get attacked, two, that we can hear them. Three, that…" Myoki began in criticism, but Hiroki cut across her.

"Okay, okay! Do you have a _better_ plan then?" He asked her bitterly.

"Children, please, don't fight. We need to be focused if we're to find this child." Cubmon advised, and the two children huffed and folded their arms at one another.

"Why is this desert… so big?" Datirimon puffed, his mossy fur glistened a little as the sun shone on the sweat that was pouring from him. "And it's too hot! When are we going to find this kid?"

"Patience is the key to self discipline," Bellamon said to Datirimon, knowingly.

"Yeah well, a nice cold drink of water is the key to this stupid heat." Datirimon retorted, making the children laugh.

After that, they continued walking for some time in silence, realising the heat of the desert and the monotony of seeing an endless stretch of sand before them, which grew no smaller as they moved, was making them irritable.

Suddenly the wind picked up to a harsh level and began whipping the sand against the Digimon's faces, who began squinting to try and keep the sand from their eyes, as they all lacked any kind of arms or other features to shield their faces.

"It's a sandstorm! Come quickly, we need to find some sort of shelter." Cubmon called over the howl of the wind, and everyone began to run.

* * *

The wind was unrelenting as it threw more and more sand into the air, making it hard to see more than a few feet ahead at a time.

Through the gale a small fireball-like creature moved, seeming to be mostly unaffected by the sandy storm. The flames of its body fanned out behind it due to the strong wind.

Closely following the Digimon was an orb of light the same as the other children's, and within it another young boy peered through his TV screen, trying not to lose his Digimon in the storm.

"Don't walk too fast, DemiMeramon, or I'll get lost behind you." The boy said, barely audible over the wind.

"Don't worry Kyou, I'll not lose you!" His Digimon replied, glancing back at the orb.

The two carried on in silence, tired of fighting with the sound of the wind to be heard, until a shadow fell across them.

DemiMeramon peered upwards, and saw dark clouds looming overhead. Fear filled his eyes.

"Hurry Kyou, we do not want this storm to catch us, believe me!" The Digimon called behind him, and the orb moved alongside.

"Where can we go? I can't see a thing!" Kyou cried out from inside his orb.

"There should be a village ahead; if I haven't gotten lost in this storm it should be just a little further, hurry!" DemiMeramon replied, and the two struggled on through the blinding sand.

* * *

"Faster everyone, there isn't much time!" Cubmon yelled, moving as quickly as he could and occasionally glancing upwards.

Darkness was quickly descending over the desert as the massive black clouds of the storm were rolling overhead, and soon the sounds of thunder roared, and the flashes of lighting began.

A fork of lightning struck nearby and sent chunks of sand flying over the group. Myoki squealed and stopped for a moment.

"Don't stop, Myoki, we need to keep moving!" Bellamon said hurriedly, and Myoki nodded and caught up with everyone.

"Argh! If we don't find shelter soon we'll be buried in this sand!" Cubmon growled, his frustration going.

"We'll find somewhere, just hold on." Yukio said determinedly, though concern was evident on his face as well as he looked at Datirimon. The smallest of the Digimon was almost being blown away in the wind.

Suddenly an object loomed before them, and slowly it took shape through the sand until they realised it was a small hut. The group quickly hurried around it and found the door.

"On three; one, two, three, push!" Cubmon commanded, and he and Bellamon pushed hard against the door until it finally slid back and the group hurried inside, quickly closing the door behind them.

"Phew, I'm glad to be out of that horrible sand." Datirimon said, coughing, and the three Digimon shook themselves to rid the sand from their fur.

"I wonder what a house is doing out here in the middle of the desert…" Hiroki wondered.

"They might live here…" Bellamon suggested, the only one facing into the hut. The others turned to follow his gaze.

Stood before them was a small group of Digimon, staring blankly at the intruders. They were very small and round, much like Datirimon, and were covered in pink fur with large blue eyes and a small yellow beak. Pink-feathered wings protruded from their sides and a lone red feather sat atop their heads.

Finally, one of them spoke.

"…Hi there, strangers…" The creature began awkwardly. "We are Poromon, welcome to our village…"

"Greetings stranger, I apologize for our intrusion," Cubmon said, taking the lead as always. "I hope that we may shelter from the storm here…"

The sound of the sandstorm whipping against the hut could be heard, but now dulled by the walls.

"Well now, since you already barged into our house…" Poromon said and Cubmon looked embarrassed, but then the bird-like Digimon giggled.

"You may; we would not turn out any fellow Digimon into this awful storm." Another of the Poromon spoke up, and the children and their Digimon relaxed a little.

"So why do you live out here in the desert?" Hiroki asked, peering around the small hut.

"Well, I suppose you could say we enjoy the peace and quiet," One of the Poromon said. "But really, it is as good as any place to live."

Hiroki looked doubtful but didn't question them any more. The Digimon and the children moved and sat against the wall, all except Myoki whose orb remained where it was.

"Myoki?" Bellamon asked, standing back up and looking a little concerned. Myoki muttered something from her orb.

"…Pink birdies…" She said, her eyes glowing. _"So cute!"_

Bellamon sighed and sweat appeared on his forehead, and he sat back down.

"Bah, amateurs!" A voice sounded from the back of the hut, and, unseen until now due to the group of Poromon, an orb of light appeared closely followed by a Digimon.

"Whoa!" Hiroki and Yukio exclaimed together, and all the Digimon got back to their feet again in a hurry.

"Digimon aren't cute, they're cool!" The boy exclaimed from his orb, while the other children still stared at him until finally Hiroki spoke.

"Uh hi, I'm Hiroki! What's your name?" He said.

"Hmph. My name is Kyou Daisari, and I'm going to be the strongest Digimon fighter ever!" The boy said smugly, and his Digimon grinned seemingly in agreement.

"Huh? This isn't a competition you know…" Hiroki said, confused.

"Yeah right, the only people who say that are the ones who know they're gonna lose." Kyou smirked, and Hiroki sighed.

"Hiroki…" Yukio whispered quietly beside his friend, and Hiroki turned.

"Huh?"

"Don't… tell him my name."

"What? Why not?"

"Just don't…" Yukio looked afraid, but Hiroki remained confused.

"So who are you losers?" Kyou asked.

"We're not losers!" Hiroki cried, "And like I said I'm Hiroki, this is Myoki and with me here is Yu-"

"**Hiroki!"** Yukio yelled angrily and Hiroki winced sheepishly.

"Yukio? Yukio _Oikawa?_" Kyou sneered and then laughed harshly. "Oh man, you guys really _are_ losers!"

"You shut up!" Datirimon cried and stepped forward angrily, but DemiMeramon moved in front of Kyou's orb.

"Just try it, shorty!" DemiMeramon threatened.

"Stop it! Violence won't solve anything!" Bellamon cried desperately, but the stand-off showed no sign of resolving.

Suddenly a high-pitched screech came from outside, just about able to be heard over the sound of the storm.

"Ah! That sounds like a Poromon!" The pink Digimon who had first spoken to them said, and rushed over to open the door.

"Wait!" Cubmon yelled, but he was too late as the little bird-like Digimon opened the door with its beak, and sand began to howl into the hut.

No longer defended from the storm, all the Digimon and the children rushed back out of the hut.

Barely visible ahead of them, another of the small pink Poromon battled through the sandstorm, and the rest of them watched on in horror.

"Oh no!" cried the same Poromon who had opened the door, and he rushed towards his struggling friend.

At that moment the clouds of the storm let out an almighty crack as a fork of lightning bolted down to the ground, striking the lone Poromon as he ran through the storm to his friend.

"Aah!" Everyone yelled at the sight, thinking the Digimon could not survive the strike, but what happened next took everyone by surprise.

The Poromon stopped running, now just a few feet from his struggling friend, and cried out in pain. A dark aura grew around him and he gritted his beak together, as slowly the pink of his fur began to change, and as if a bottle of ink had been spilled on him, it turned black.

His wings grew ragged and their feathers turned black as well, and the feather on his head split into three.

Finally the strange transformation ended, and the new dark Poromon stood and glared angrily at his former friend, who had stopped fighting through the storm and now gaped at the twisted appearance of Digimon.

"Dark Gust!" The dark Poromon suddenly yelled, and a darkish mist blew at the other Poromon, which vanished into dust in the blink of an eye.

"Aah!" The group of Poromon cried again, and the children and their Digimon gaped in shock and horror.

"Dark Gust!" The dark Poromon yelled again, this time firing at the Poromon's hut and knocking some branches from its roof.

"He's going to destroy our home!" One of the Poromon cried in desperation.

"No!" Cubmon yelled, now angry, and attacked. "Cub Flame!"

A fireball flew from Cubmon's mouth, but the sand blowing in the wind quickly doused the flames.

"Bubble Blow!" Datirimon joined in, but his bubble was blown wildly away in the wind.

"Grr, what can we do?" Hiroki cried and even Yukio looked doubtful.

"Hind Kick!" Bellamon yelled, and began to run at the dark Poromon, but was soon knocked over by the strong wind as well, and tumbled over before managing to stop himself by digging his hooves into the sand.

"Bellamon!" Myoki cried as her Digimon fell.

"Do it DemiMeramon!" Kyou commanded confidently, and his Digimon nodded and turned around.

"Steam Blow!" He yelled and blew hard into the sand, throwing chunks of it into the air. The wind was now against him, and it fanned his flames behind him again. As the wind caught the chunks of sand, it blew them threw the flames.

Emerging out the other side of DemiMeramon's flames, the sand had now turned to glass, and the shards flew straight at the dark Poromon that was still attempting to knock down the hut.

"Argh!" The Poromon squawked and the glass struck him hard, and he exploded into particles that quickly dispersed in the wind.

The Digimon and the children quickly hurried back into the hut and out of the storm before they reacted to the events that had occurred.

"You saved us… thank you." The Poromon said, though they sounded greatly saddened by the loss of their friends.

Before DemiMeramon or Kyou could reply, Cubmon suddenly pounced on DemiMeramon and pinned him to the floor with his paws, growling.

"Hey, get off him!" Kyou yelled.

"Cubmon, what are you doing?" Hiroki cried as well.

"How dare you? How dare you destroy that Digimon?" Cubmon demanded furiously, his teeth bore at the DemiMeramon who stared back blankly.

"He destroyed a Poromon, and was going to ruin their house! What would you have me do?" DemiMeramon retorted, and the two glared at one another.

"Cubmon…" Hiroki said, sounding upset, and as Cubmon turned and peered into the orb he could see an element of fear in his partner's eyes, and his anger subsided.

"Hiroki… I'm sorry…" Cubmon pleaded.

"No one else needs to be hurt, okay?" Hiroki told Cubmon, wiping at his eyes, and the lion-like Digimon nodded.

"Kyou," Hiroki then said, and turned to Kyou's orb. "Whatever your problem is, I don't care, these Digimon need our help and we all need to stick together to do it."

"Whatever, losers," Kyou said once again, the insult washing over Hiroki who looked only more determined, but Yukio looked upset at the word.

"I'm outta here, DemiMeramon, I'll see you tomorrow," Kyou said, and without another word his orb faded from view.

"Hey wait! … Gah! What a jerk!" Hiroki exclaimed, to which DemiMeramon frowned, but Yukio interrupted.

"Leave it… Hiroki, won't your dad be home soon anyway?" He asked.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I almost forgot!" Hiroki said nervously. "I guess you'd better get going. You can come back tomorrow, though."

With that, the children and their Digimon all said their goodbyes for the day again, with the Digimon offering to stay and help the Poromon fix their hut once the storm died down.

The children all turned off their machines and their orbs faded from the view.

"Hey… Yukio?" Hiroki asked as two boys were about to leave the room.

"Yeah?" Yukio replied.

"How do you know this Kyou kid? I mean, he seems like a real jerk…"

"Its nothing, Hiroki, lets not talk about it." Yukio said, somewhat timidly.

Hiroki considered protesting, but thought better of it and nodded, and the two boys headed out of the room to say farewell for the day.

**End of Chapter 04**


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